More than 3,000 unionised Starbucks workers started an indefinite strike at over 100 stores in the United States on Thursday to protest at a lack of progress in labour negotiations with the company.
The strike was intended to disrupt Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, which is typically one of the company’s busiest days of the year.
Since 2018, Starbucks has given out free, reusable cups on that day to customers who buy a holiday drink. Starbucks Workers United, the union organising baristas, said on Thursday morning that the strike had already closed some stores and was expected to force more to close later in the day.
Starbucks Workers United said stores in 45 cities would be impacted, including New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Diego, St. Louis, Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, and Starbucks’ home city of Seattle.
There is no date set for the strike to end, and more stores are prepared to join if Starbucks doesn’t reach a contract agreement with the union, organisers said.
Striking workers say they’re protesting because Starbucks has yet to reach a contract agreement with the union. Starbucks workers first voted to unionise at a store in Buffalo in 2021.
In December 2023, Starbucks vowed to finalise an agreement by the end of 2024.
But in August of last year, the company ousted Laxman Narasimhan, the CEO who made that promise.
The union said progress has stalled under Brian Niccol, the company’s current chairman and CEO.
The two sides haven’t been at the bargaining table since April.
Workers say they’re seeking better hours and improved staffing in stores, where they say long customer wait times are routine.
They also want higher pay, pointing out that executives like Niccol are making millions and the company spent $81 million (£51 million) in June on a conference in Las Vegas, Nevada for 14,000 store managers and regional leaders.
Dochi Spoltore, a barista from Pittsburgh, said in a press statement on Thursday that it’s hard for workers to be assigned more than 19 hours per week, which leaves them short of the 20 hours they would need to be eligible for Starbucks’ benefits.
Spoltore said she makes $16 (£12) per hour.
She added: ‘We’re proud of our work, but we’re tired of being treated like we’re disposable.’
The union also wants the company to resolve hundreds of unfair labour practice charges filed by workers, who say the company has fired baristas in retaliation for unionising and has failed to bargain over changes in policy that workers must enforce, like its decision earlier this year to limit restroom use to paying customers.
Unionised workers have gone on strike at Starbucks before. In 2022 and 2023, workers walked off the job on Red Cup Day. Last year, a five-day strike ahead of Christmas closed 59 US stores.
Each time, Starbucks said the disruption to its operations was minimal. Starbucks Workers United said the new strike is open-ended and could spread to many more unionised locations.
Meanwhile, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said on Thursday that the trade union federation is celebrating the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers’ victory after a third US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld their demands for the newspaper to repeal more than five years of workers’ rights violations and to compensate those who were impacted.
Shuler stated: ‘Working people don’t back down from a fight, no matter how long it takes or how tough it gets.
‘The members of the Pittsburgh News Guild-CWA have proven that time and again for the past three years.
‘I am thrilled to congratulate them on their resounding victory.
‘The staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stood on the picket line throughout the longest ongoing strike in the United States, fighting against the Post-Gazette’s union-busting efforts as it consistently tried to deny workers their health care and break the terms of their contract.
‘Since filing unfair labour practice charges in 2020 and going out on strike in October 2022, they have continued to serve their community with a strike newspaper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress.
‘On Thursday, a federal court ruled that the Post-Gazette must meet its obligations under the workers’ collective bargaining agreement, including providing health care coverage, a short-term disability plan, a 40-hour working week and workers’ right to appeal discipline.
‘The Post-Gazette workers’ heroic persistence exemplifies the power of what we can achieve when we come together in a union.
‘For three years, they have bravely stood up for their own rights and have thereby held the line for everyone who works for a living.
‘Their struggle has shown us all that when we fight, we win.’
Museum workers in Detroit unionising
WORKERS at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) are coming together to form a union with AFSCME Michigan 925.
They’re calling on museum leadership to voluntarily recognise their efforts to build a fair, transparent, and respectful workplace.
The campaign, announced by DIA Workers United, includes staff from across departments who share a deep commitment to the museum’s mission of connecting people to art and culture.
They say the same values that make the museum a cornerstone of the community should also guide how workers are treated.
Francesca Catalfio, spokesperson for DIA Workers United and a visitor experience associate at the museum said: ‘Strong cultural institutions make strong communities.
‘We’re proud of the work we do to connect people to art and culture every day.
‘Now we’re organising for the same respect and dignity we show the public because a stronger DIA starts with a fair workplace for everyone.’
DIA Workers United joins a growing movement of cultural workers nationwide organising with AFSCME.
‘Our union’s Cultural Workers United campaign helps these workers secure fair pay, job security, and a real voice in decisions that shape their work.
‘Fifty thousand workers at museums, libraries, zoos and other cultural institutions have won a voice on the job by forming a union with AFSCME — more than any other union.’
Workers at the DIA say this effort is about strengthening the museum from within.
By negotiating together, they hope to enshrine the principles of fairness and equity into a collective bargaining agreement that supports both staff and the community they serve.